Welcome to our Early Years Curriculum and Assessment Information

📚 Our EYFS Curriculum & Approach

We follow the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework. Our curriculum is designed to be ambitious, play-based, and tailored to the unique interests and needs of our youngest learners.

The 7 Areas of Learning and Development:

Our indoor and outdoor learning environments are carefully planned to support progress across all seven statutory areas:
The Prime Areas (fundamental for all learning):

• Communication and Language: Developing listening, attention, and speaking skills.
• Physical Development: Improving gross and fine motor skills.
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Building self-regulation, managing feelings, and making relationships

The Specific Areas (strengthening and applying the prime areas):

• Literacy: Linking sounds to letters (Phonics) and writing.
• Mathematics: Developing a deep understanding of numbers to 10 and spatial reasoning.
• Understanding the World: Exploring people, culture, communities, and the natural world.
• Expressive Arts and Design: Creating with materials, being imaginative, and exploring music.

Phonics and Early Reading

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum.
Our Phonics Scheme: We use Read Write Inc. to teach children how to read and spell. Additional information can be found within the Acorn Class Page.

Home Reading: Children take home a phonically decodable reading book matched exactly to their current phonic stage, alongside a "book-bag book" to read with parents. We also encourage children to take home "sharing books" from our library. These are books that adults at home can read to their children. 

📈 Assessment & The EYFS Profile

Assessment in the EYFS is ongoing and largely based on day-to-day observations of the children during independent play and guided activities.

Ongoing Assessment: We use Tapestry to capture and celebrate your child’s learning milestones.

The EYFS Profile and Baseline: In the first term of the Reception year, we complete the statutory EYFS Baseline Assessment. This is a short, 20-minute interactive check of early literacy and maths skills. It has no pass or fail mark, serving simply as a starting point for schools to measure academic progress by the end of primary school.

In the final term of Reception Year, we complete the EYFS Profile. This assesses children against the 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs) to determine if they have achieved a Good Level of Development (GLD).

🛡️ Safeguarding, Welfare & Ratios

The safety and well-being of our children are our highest priorities. We strictly adhere to the statutory welfare standards set out in the EYFS framework.

• Ratios & Qualifications: Our class is led by a fully qualified teachers and supported by highly skilled practitioners, meeting or exceeding all statutory staff-to-child ratios.
• Intimate Care & Medical: We have robust policies for intimate care, first aid (with paediatric first aid-trained staff always present), and administering medication.
• Our Welfare Policies: You can view our full Early Years Policy and Safeguarding Policy in our policies section.

🤝 Partnering with Parents

We recognise that parents are a child’s first and most enduring educators. We foster strong home-school partnerships through:

 

• Regular updates on your child's digital learning journey.
• Termly parent-teacher curriculum updates. 
• Twice yearly parent consultation meetings and final annual pupil report.
• Stay-and-play sessions and community events.

📄 Key Statutory Links